I need inspiration : unorthodox ways for operating an event photo business?

Hi,

I just bought a dye sub printer and I'm looking to take the plunge into the event photo business.

I've done this a couple of time with another photographer so I know a bit about the ups and downs of that business and the way to operate it.

Here's a couple of ideas I have developed, tell me what you think :

I'm trying to find events that spread over 2 days. That way, I can come on the first day and do all (or almost all) the photos and concentrate on only selling the next day. I found out that if you take photos for 2 days, people often want to wait instead of buying because they think that you are going to take more photos of them on the second day. I found out it was a bit harder to sell on the first day because of that. It will also save me a trip with all the equipment for print on day one and an employee to take orders. Of course, this is utopian, as all events are different, but this is what I aim for.

One problem that I've come across when I was working for the other photographer was the way to show the photos to the customers. We had one computer to show them. Problem was that oftentimes, a lot of people come in to see their photos and you only have one station, which means you have potentially lost a lot of sales because some people can't or don't want to wait to see the pics. I thought about multiple computers to show the pictures but it would cost a lot of $$$. I thought about getting some iPads that could be fixed to the table in a custom way (so they can't be stolen), but that would be a lot of $$$ too. My current ideas is to buy a couple of Sony PSP and upload the photos on them. The new Sony portable was announced this week and the price of the current PSP is going down like crazy so I might be able to get 2-3 PSPs for cheap, again, fixing them to a table or something as viewing stations.

I also thought about uploading the photos on a website "à la Smugmug" where I could give a URL to people with smartphones and they could check their photos with a watermark on the spot to choose them.

I would like to hear what you think about these ideas and contribute with what you do that is ingenious or what you plan to do if you are in the event photo business.

I'm not sure what it would take to do it software wise, but what about a flat screen lcd tv that shows multiple pictures at once and changes every few seconds so all photos are displayed at some point. Sorta like the amusement parks do when you get off a ride.

In the field you probably cannot get enough bandwidth to use a website well.

What I have seen a lot of at LAX tournaments is slip sleeves filled with photos which people sift through and physically buy on the spot. They seem to all be 5x7 for about $8 each, with number imprinted on the back. Then there are order forms laying around which you put he number on, order what you want and pay on the spot.

In the tent, they hang t shirts, mugs, buttons, all the usual stuff you sell via smuggy

Big tip. Be ready for rain, and hand out biz cards which do go to a site they can order from. And when I say hand out, I mean you send someone to give a card to everyone there on both days.

This is a key thing people just do not do. I cannot tell you how many times parents say they know there was a pro but they have no idea how to find her or him.

Are you trying to do all this by yourself. If so, I would suggest that you hire someone to help you. Event photography can be rewarding as long as you do it so it serves the participants of the event. They want to come into your area and get out in a minimum of time. I would suggest that you pick up another computer for displaying your processed pictures on. You don't need a power house computer for this. Looking at places like Walmart and other places that sell low end computers you can pick up something for less than 300.00 or 400.00.

Although you might not have internet access there is nothing preventing you from establishing your own wireless network (intranet) that people could access with their wifi enabled device, view and order prints.

J Michael wrote in post #12577856
Although you might not have internet access there is nothing preventing you from establishing your own wireless network (intranet) that people could access with their wifi enabled device, view and order prints.

Wow, that is a good idea. I will do my research on that.

The Eye-fi Is a gadget you might want to take a look at. Click the link to get a great review of it.

J Michael wrote in post #12577856
Although you might not have internet access there is nothing preventing you from establishing your own wireless network (intranet) that people could access with their wifi enabled device, view and order prints.

I'm still trying to find a way to do this, I would like to buy a small router and make a local wireless network (no internet access) that people could connect to with their smartphones and use their web browsers to view and select the photos that they want to buy.

Any ideas on how I could do that?

Yogue wrote in post #12653598
I'm still trying to find a way to do this, I would like to buy a small router and make a local wireless network (no internet access) that people could connect to with their smartphones and use their web browsers to view and select the photos that they want to buy.

Any ideas on how I could do that?

you'll need some sort of a web server in that network, unless there're some routers that have basic web-server built in...

Yogue wrote in post #12653598
I'm still trying to find a way to do this, I would like to buy a small router and make a local wireless network (no internet access) that people could connect to with their smartphones and use their web browsers to view and select the photos that they want to buy.

Any ideas on how I could do that?

That will be great! Then people can download copies without having to pay you a dime!

Forgive my sarcasm, but you should consider that issue- I suppose you could show low-res copies, and somehow watermark them... That's just a few extra steps in the process. Downloading is nothing that they can't do from an online gallery later, but I am continually surprised at how potential customers are satisfied with poor quality, watermarked photos- As long as they are free- that's all they need. Your previews on a smartphone will be forwarded to friends and family within moments- and that may be the last you see of your "customers".

Another issue that plagues me is the viewing screens- In bright sunlight, I have found most of my computer monitors (LCD) to be pretty un-viewable. We set up under a tent, and still find that we need to provide a "hood" to see anything substantial on the screen- something similar to NFL referees use to review plays on the field. It makes viewing photos awkward at best. My latest idea is to try printed contact sheets- but I obviously need a way to secure them as well.

On-site sales are difficult outdoors. My best success has come with printing some 8x10's on spec- for a 2 day event, just pick a variety that you like, display them clearly, and offer them for sale. I've never had an event where I didn't recover my print costs several times over.

I'm going to watch this thread- I am sure there are solutions to all of the issues that have been brought up- hopefully I can learn too!

Of course, watermarking was something that was thought of for the smartphone idea.

I'm struggling a bit with a way to show off the photos. There are advantages and disadvantages to every idea on that matter, of course.